Damen Shiprepair Cuts 150 Jobs

Damen Shiprepair & Conversion (DSC) plans to lay off around 150 workers as part of its reorganisation program at three Dutch yards within its group.

All employees at the three locations — Damen Shiprepair Rotterdam (DSR), Damen Shiprepair Van Brink (DSVB) and Damen Shiprepair Vlissingen (DSVl) — have been informed, along with the workers' council and trade unions. It is the intention of DSC to complete the reorganization before summer 2017.

DSC explained that it has been “forced to take these measures due to continued adverse market conditions.”

Making matters worse, market expectations for the short and medium term are not positive. DSC says it is reducing the number of permanent staff throughout all levels of the organization as well as reducing facility costs.

The company says it has sought to diversify its offering and develop new product/market combinations, but ‘the oil and gas market has decreased in such a way that has left DSC unable to fill the void with other activities.’

DSC, with 16 repair and conversion yards across the world, is part of Netherlands-based Damen Shipyards Group, which has a total of 32 shipbuilding and repair yards and employs 9,000 people.